Larry Young – Heaven on Earth

Jack McDuff among others dubbed Larry Young ‘the Coltrane of the Hammond organ’ – and he remains one of the all-time heavyweight players of this majestic instrument – expanding its language from his roots in Bartók and the blues, to McCoy Tyner, Trane and blazing jazz-rock. Adept at straddling any genre, he was part of Miles’Bitches Brew sessions, Tony Williams’ Lifetime and even some one-off sessions with Jimi Hendrix. With the previously unissued Larry Young in Paris: The ORTF Recordings from the mid-1960s scheduled for release in January 2016 on Resonance Records, firing up interest in this mercurial figure, who died in 1978 aged just 37, Stuart Nicholson looks back at this hugely influential organist’s life and work as a major lead-off to this issue’s salute to the heroes of the Hammond organ

This is an extract from Jazzwise Issue #203 – to read the full article click here to Subscribe, save money and receive a fantastic FREE CD